New Celtics guard hasn't minded whirlwind tour of NBA

Jim Fenton

Monday

Oct 29, 2007 at 12:01 AM

He has made the rounds in the NBA since being drafted by the Miami Heat in the summer of 2000. When Eddie House suits up for the Boston Celtics on Friday night, he will be playing a regular-season game for his eighth team in eight seasons.

He has made the rounds in the NBA since being drafted by the Miami Heat in the summer of 2000.

When Eddie House suits up for the Boston Celtics on Friday night, he will be playing a regular-season game for his eighth team in eight seasons.

There was a three-year stint with the Heat followed by a year with the Los Angeles Clippers. There were stops in Charlotte, Milwaukee and Sacramento, all during the 2004-05 season, and one-year stays in Phoenix and New Jersey the past two seasons.

The welcome mat now is out in Boston for the 29-year-old House, a guard who is being counted on to provide outside shooting off the bench.

It has been a whirlwind tour of the NBA for House since scoring 2,044 points at Arizona State and being drafted in the second round, but he hasn't minded the journey.

"It can be (frustrating),” House said after practice Monday afternoon, "but it's seasoned me to be able to deal with different personalities, from the coaching end, the organization end, dealing with different players, seeing guys with different egos.

"I think it helped me a lot. I don't think I'd trade it for anything. It's all life's experiences, and it's been a great experience for me so far.”

House, whose wife, Charlsie, is the sister of Sacramento Kings point guard Mike Bibby, admits the constant moving around is difficult on their family, which includes twins Kaden and Kalek and another son, Jaelen.

"It's more frustrating for my family, wife and kids, not for me,” House said. "I'm doing what I love to do, playing basketball, getting an opportunity to do it in another city, to learn.

"My family gets to see another city that maybe they never would have seen before. It's a great experience. It'd be cool to settle down for my family, but besides that, I don't have any problem with it.

"I would love to settle somewhere, and this would be a great place to settle, but, you know, that's neither here nor there. Right now, what it's about is getting better and preparing ourselves for (the opener against Washington Friday).”

House, who has averaged 7.5 points in 434 regular-season games, is a long-distance shooter who will be one of the first reserves off the Celtics' bench.

The California native, who has started just 28 games in his career and is not exactly known as a defensive specialist, is a 38 percent 3-point shooter.

The Celtics experimented with House at the point guard spot during the preaseason, but his biggest contribution will be shooting the ball from outside.

"You can't leave him open,” Coach Doc Rivers said. "He shoots it so quick and so well. We still have to talk about that other end (defense) a little bit with him. But as far as knowing how to get his shot, running the floor, spacing the floor, he's as good as they come.

"He's a great shooter, there's no doubt about that. Taking him off the point has helped him a little bit. That allows Eddie to go back to what he does, and that's shooting the ball.

"Let's me honest, if you had your druthers, would you want him to run the point guard position or make open shots?. We brought him in here to make open shots.”

House had his best season in 2005-06 with the Suns, averaging 9.8 points on a team that reached the Western Conference finals.

He had good vibes about that team, which won 54 games in the regular season, and has better vibes about the 2007-08 Celtics.

"You get feelings with certain teams, and I've only had a feeling with one other team like I have now,” House said. "This feeling is a lot stronger than the one I had then.

"So far, this is a good look for everybody that's on this team, for the city of Boston and the Boston Celtics' organization.”

House signed a one-year contract worth $1.5 million as a free agent in August, so there is no guarantee that he won't be looking for another home next season.

That is a worry for another day as House gets ready to be a key contributor on a team with high hopes in the Eastern Conference.

"If we win, that'll take care of itself,” House said. "If I do what I'm supposed to do, it'll take care of itself. At the end of the year, we can have this discussion. But right now it's strictly focused on what we're going to do with this team and how we're going to do it.”

-- The Enterprise

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.